Book Recommendations/London

[mikz]

It's just gone midnight in San Francisco and I've only been awake for a few hours. Jetlag is going to be fun tomorrow.

Anyhoo, I'm back in London for the day. I'm going to meet some peeps for lunch, see the Eye of London ferris wheel I've been meaning to go on (only because it's a backdrop for so many Brit dramas) and have a quiet dinner with nitoda, twangman

Comments

[redcountess]

There's the London Transport (who have run the Underground since the 30s) Museum in Covent Garden http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/

You should be able to get a copy of Neverwhere in any of the larger bookshops here :)

[mikz]

Thanks. I didn't manage to do much of the touristy stuff but I still had a good time. I'll be here longer next time, so I can hang out with you peeps more as well. =)

And I did get a copy of Neverwhere, apparently a merge of the UK and U.S. version. It says 'anticlockwise' instead of 'counter-clockwise', so I'm happy with it. It's missing the inner tube network map, though. I've got one on the back of my A-Z but it doesn't have historic notes about when the stations were opened and closed. Ah well. =)

[redcountess]

arkady informs me that map is only available at the transport museum, not even in their online shop, but if you can't wait until your next visit, I would be happy to get it for you as I still haven't visited the museum myself! :)

[mikz]

Oh, cool! I was actually talking about the one in the U.S. version of Neverwhere (which, unfortunately, uses the topsy-turvy U.S. date format), but if there's an actual map... cooool! I think it can wait until I get there next, though. =)

[megalion]

Highly HIGHLY recommend Fresco by Sheri Tepper

[megalion]

btw for sheer comedy value in scifi

[luna_torquill]

Sewer Gas and Electric is an utter trip. I started reading it, but there's only so far I can keep up with a book that is such total self-parody -- it keeps being so absurd that I lose touch with the line of the plot. At least that book has one, but.... zounds.

Then again, I couldn't get into Snow Crash for some of the same reasons, so my judgement is suspect. ;)

Stephenson

[rkentspeth]

I like "Diamond Age" and "Snow Crash". I haven't read any of his later stuff, but those two are really good.

[doushkasmum]

I second the Transport Museum rec. It is way cool.

The favourite books I am pimping this week are the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher. More fantasy than Sci Fi, they read like detective stories, but the detective is a wizard. They are great!

[mikz]

I'll check it out. Thanks!

Beloved books

[trinker]

...I actually get very, very grumpy reading the Dresden Files books, because of the misogyny and pervasive RaceFail. :P

I love _Beggars in Spain_ by Nancy Kress, and think you'd find it interesting. I reread it every few years.

I know you said "not so much fantasy", but I really love Terry Pratchett. His later books especially are full of satire and a sense of social justice that I love.

I like Lois McMaster Bujold, except for her newest novel, _Cryoburn_ (which I pretend doesn't exist. (OTOH, I don't think I could read it again now, as Miles has *wonderful* parents and I end up jealous. It's better when I'm off on my own, and then I find it inspirational.)

[sshi]

I second the Harry Dresden books, also. And if the first one or two seem a bit similar (although this is a time-honoured detective story convention), the meta-story takes a couple of books to really get going.

Also, I second Neal Stephenson, if you haven't read any. The earlier ones are great, but the later door-stoppers are a whole other level of entertaining. Cryptonomicon is probably the ultimate computer geek novel, with part of the story set in a kind of dotcom start-up, part following WWII codebreakers and settings in London, Manila, Canberra, California and various parts of mid-west USA and south-east Asia. I think you would really like it, although it is long.

I've just finished reading his latest, Anathem, which blew my mind. Think of the sort of society that would grow up around the Clock of the Long Now, where all of the scientists and mathematicians live in monasteries, tending the clocks.

[luna_torquill]

I just finished (re-re-re-re-re-) re-reading "Tea With the Black Dragon" by R.A. MacAvoy. Read it if you haven't already; it's dated by the computers in it (very early 80s) but I find that adds a bit to the charm. Set in San Francisco and the South Bay. It's short but sweet

Vinge

[rkentspeth]

I LOVE Vernor Vinge. Did you know that "The Peace War" was the first of three pieces set in the same universe? I can't remember the name of the short story that's part of it but the other novella is "Marooned in Realtime" (set after "The Peace War"). One of the most heartbreaking ways of murdering someone ever is in this book. My heart still tries to crawl in on itself whenever I think of it.

Okay, the name of the short is "The Ungoverned"...

You can get all three pieces in a book called "Across Realtime". It's excellent!

Re: Vinge

[luna_torquill]

How odd. My copy of "Across Realtime" has only "The Peace War" and "Marooned in Realtime" (which I didn't like very well). It's a hardback, which may explain why it's lacking the short story. I have to get that now.

Re: Vinge

[mikz]

I'm enjoying the interaction in this post. And it's good to read warnings about heartbreaking murders... I'm afraid I might not be up for that any time soon. =) I'll check out Shinn and McKinley... maybe I'll find out why so many of my friends are vampire freaks. (Oh. Wait. Duh. Neck biting and long, interesting lives. Never mind. =P )

[valkyriekaren]

Neverwhere is brilliant. It's a shame the BBC TV version suffered so much from poor production values (though the dialogue, costumes and characterisation remain brilliant, so it's still worth it if you can get past the grainy video and occasionally unconvincing sets and special effects).

Another good 'alternative London' book is China Mieville's Un Lun Dun. He cites Neil Gaiman as an influence (and indeed counts him as a friend), but it's a very different style of book. It's aimed at the 'young adult' market but is a pretty dark story at its heart, and plays with language delightfully.

Other good stuff: if you haven't read Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and Children of God then you should. Don't be put off by the religious aspects of the story - though the religious motivations of some of the characters are central to the plot, they're not at heart religious books.

Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveller's Wife is also glorious, and heartwrenching

[mikz]

I'm home now. Nice to have you reading! =)

According to Gaiman, in the introduction to his preferred text, he started working on the novel as he was working on the television series. Whenever they had to cut a scene or a line of dialogue, he'd just say 'oh well, I'll put it in the novel'. =)